BACOLOD City – A woman reported missing on Nov. 20 – allegedly one of the farmers who escaped the “Sagay 9” massacre ordeal in late October – was found dead of apparent drowning around 7:30 a.m. on Sunday in a patch of mangrove trees in Purok Mahogany, Barangay Bulanon, Sagay City, Negros Occidental.
Chief Inspector Robert Mansueto, Sagay City police head, identified the victim as Maricel Alovera Ortiz, 53, resident of Barangay Bulanon, Sagay City.
Firewood gatherer Marlon De la Pena, 24, and his 16-year-old companion found the victim’s body floating on the river near the mangroves on Sunday.
Ortiz reportedly left her family’s house on Nov. 20 and never came back.
According to her family, the victim was reportedly suffering from the trauma from the “Sagay 9” massacre. Police speculate she may have been hiding near the mangroves when she lost her footing and fell into the river and drowned.
Ortiz was reportedly one of the persons that managed to escape the “Sagay 9” massacre of Oct. 20.
Armed men gunned the farmers down while they were resting in their makeshift shanty around 9:30 p.m. on Oct. 20. The attack led to the death of nine sugar farmers in Hacienda Nene, Barangay Bulanon, Sagay City, Negros Occidental.
Sagay City police said three of the sugar workers who tried to escape were burned.
The sugar farmers – all members of the National Federation of Sugarcane Workers (NFSW) – conducted a bungkalan (land cultivation) in Hacienda Nene that day.
The land property is owned by Carmen Tolentino but leased to Allan Subinco, police said.
But the NFSW claimed that the lot is covered by the agrarian reform program./PN
